A Timeline of the World’s Economic History

Visualizing the Global Economic growth of the past 2000 years

The weak data from the Eurozone (EU) yesterday and a slowing manufacturing/services activity in the U.S is pointing to onset of a recession in the global economy. What complicates things if the growing trade hostilities among different countries of the World. Of primary concern is the trade war between the two largest economies.

The worry about the recession, however, is a little overplayed. Recessions are part of economic cycles. And since the last one occurred due to a financial meltdown more than a decade ago, none of us ever wants to see things go south like that again. Keep in mind though, the bigger this bubble gets, the harder we will fall.

Historically speaking, external events have also affected global economic growth — monetary/financial policy changes, geopolitical events and the advent of technology. Today’s visualization looks at the timeline of the world’s economic history for the past 2000 years. It shows how the GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP) has evolved with different events.

You can also look at a more condensed picture of how Black Swan events have affected the global economy in the past 25 years.